| Are Electric Cars Really Better For The Environment? |
| Written by Roger Vanderlely | |
| Friday, 12 November 2010 | |
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There are many benefits to running an electric or hybrid car. These affect both the environment and your bank balance in a positive way. When compared to an internal combustion engine car, an electric vehicle uses its fuel more efficiently and so is cheaper to run.
There are many benefits to running an electric or hybrid car. These affect both the environment and your bank balance in a positive way. When compared to an internal combustion engine car, an electric vehicle uses its fuel more efficiently and so is cheaper to run. There is no shortage of critics who say that running an electric car is pointless unless the energy to drive it comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar power. It is true that using renewable energy would be a better solution, though even if the mains electricity comes from coal fired power stations it is more efficient to run an electric car than a petroleum driven one. How is this so? There are two significant reasons. Firstly, electric and hybrid cars are more efficient in their use of energy than conventional powered cars, regardless of the source of that energy. The second reason is that energy from the mains grid is itself more efficient than energy from burning petrol, even if the grid is powered by coal fired power stations. Each of these points needs to be examined in detail. Electric and hybrid cars use electric motors to drive the wheels. They do this by use of magnetic fields in the wheels. Therefore these motors do not require contact with a drive shaft in order to turn the wheels, and so the less energy is lost through friction between parts of the drive train. When the vehicle brakes, these magnetic fields are reversed and energy is harvested from the motion of the vehicle and returned to the battery. This is called regenerative braking and is a standard feature on modern electric cars. By comparison, petrol driven cars power a drive train from a flywheel on the engine, and this in turn moves the wheels. When the petrol driven car brakes, it uses friction between the brake disc and brake pads to reduce speed. This way all the energy of the forward motion of the car is lost. The second point is the efficiency of the mains power grid. Power stations are designed to be as efficient as possible. Even though the majority of these are still using fossil fuels, they achieve conversion rates as high as 50% of the energy in the fuel to electricity. By comparison, the standard internal combustion engine has an efficiency in the region of 25%. So it is fair to conclude that a vehicle run on electricity from the mains is about twice as efficient and therefore half as polluting as a petroleum driven car. The last point about the efficiency of the grid becomes more pronounced if the electricity is sourced from a renewable supply. In that case an electric car running off the grid becomes extremely efficient. While running efficient public transport in such a manner would be even more efficient, it seems that cars are here to stay so it makes sense for them to be as energy efficient as possible. Critics may say that the energy savings of electric cars are minimal, and that this is not a sufficient saving to make them worthwhile. However, any step forward is a step in the right direction and so it is worth being mindful of the environmental and economic benefits of these vehicles. The Article Author: Read more about electric cars at Roger Vanderlely's website. There you'll find all the information you need on solar power, including how to find cheap solar panels, solar science experiments for kids, reviews of solar equipment and much more. |
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